Best Bone Marrow Transplant Treatment in India

Diseases And Conditions With Unhealthy Stem Cells

Having unhealthy bone marrow can lead to numerous health conditions, primarily because bone marrow is crucial for the production of blood cells and immune cells. Here are some health conditions that can arise when bone marrow is unhealthy:

Anemia: An unhealthy bone marrow may not produce enough red blood cells, leading to anemia. Anemia can cause fatigue, weakness, shortness of breath, pale skin, and other symptoms.

Neutropenia: Neutropenia occurs when the bone marrow doesn’t produce enough neutrophils, a type of white blood cell that helps fight infections. This condition can enhance the risk of bacterial infections.

Thrombocytopenia: Sometimes, bone marrow fails to produce adequate platelets, resulting in easy bruising, prolonged bleeding from cuts, nosebleeds, and other complications.

Pancytopenia: This condition involves low levels of all three types of blood cells (red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets) due to bone marrow dysfunction. It can lead to a combination of symptoms related to anemia, infections, and bleeding disorders.

Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS): These disorders involve dysfunctional blood stem cells in the bone marrow, leading to inadequate blood cell production, and may progress to acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in some cases.

Bone Marrow Failure Syndromes: Conditions such as aplastic anemia or Fanconi anemia can cause bone marrow failure, where the bone marrow stops producing enough blood cells. It results in similar symptoms to those mentioned above, depending on which types of blood cells are affected.

Increased Susceptibility to Infections: Individuals with unhealthy bone marrow are more susceptible to infections without enough healthy white blood cells, particularly neutrophils. These can range from bacterial infections to viral and fungal infections.

Complications from Blood Transfusions: In some cases of severe bone marrow dysfunction, frequent blood transfusions may be necessary to manage low blood counts. However, this can lead to complications such as iron overload and transfusion reactions.

Impact on Organ Function: Chronic anemia and other blood cell deficiencies can strain the heart and other organs, leading to complications eventually.

Types of Bone Marrow Transplant

An expert surgeon at one of the best hospitals for bone marrow transplants in India can replace damaged or destroyed bone marrow with healthy stem cells in three different ways.

• Autologous Transplantation
• Allogeneic Transplantation
• Syngeneic Transplantation
• Haploidentical Transplantation

The best bone marrow transplant surgeon may suggest a thorough evaluation to assess a patient’s overall health and conduct tests, such as blood tests, imaging studies, cardiac analysis, pulmonary function tests, and others for deciding organ function and disease status. Patients typically undergo a conditioning regimen, which involves high-dose chemotherapy and sometimes total body irradiation before the transplant in order to destroy cancer cells or suppress the immune system and create space in the bone marrow for the donor cells to engraft.

What is the life expectancy after a bone marrow transplant?

The life expectancy after a bone marrow transplant (BMT) can vary widely depending on several factors, including the underlying condition being treated, the type of transplant (autologous or allogeneic), the age and overall health of the patient, the presence of complications, and the success of the transplant. Overall survival rates after bone marrow transplantation have improved significantly over the years due to advances in transplant techniques, supportive care, and better management of complications.